


Tea For Two

by karaokegal



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Angst, Bisexuality, Canon Bisexual Character, Demisexuality, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Love, Tea, Yuletide 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 08:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/607659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karaokegal/pseuds/karaokegal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve seeks some advice and gets a new definition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea For Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boosette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boosette/gifts).



> NOTE TO POTENTIAL READERS: Please look at the pairing and misc. tags. Although there is no graphic material in this story, the pairing does mean what it says: Steve/Claudia in a sexual and romantic relationship. This is not mean to be in any way ambiguous. If you think you will find reading anything about that pairing to be triggering or offensive, this might not be the story for you. Please see end-notes for further discussion.

HG offered him tea, which wasn’t surprising. 

Steve was slightly taken aback, when instead of Earl Grey and a selection of scones and finger sandwiches, she instead produced a pot of boiling water and poured it over the earthy leaves of an aged Pu-erh. It was exactly what his teacher might have done if he’d been able to reach her in less time than it would have taken for him to be missed at dinner. Unfortunately she was on a retreat in Kyoto, and Steve didn’t have time to get there, much less the inclination to interrupt her silent meditation. 

He had to talk to _someone_ , but choices were limited by circumstances. Artie was out of the question due his capacity as Claudia’s de facto father figure, Pete by his emotional immaturity and Mrs. Frederic…well she probably already knew, simply because she knew everything, and was choosing not to discuss for reasons of her own. No doubt they had something to do with the well-being of the Warehouse.

That left Myka, who immediately hugged him and wished him the best, before urging him to talk to the one person associated with the Warehouse who might have some actual insight into his situation. It was less than a three hour drive, so there was no way to say no. 

She sipped and listened, occasionally taking deep inhalations of the complex fragrance the Pu-erh produced as the leaves gave out more and more of their flavor.

Steve talked, more than he had to almost anyone except his sister, and more than he had to Claudia since they’d had their…moment. The moment that became a kiss and then a lot more than a kiss. And now he had to try to understand what that meant, for him, for her, for them. If there really could be a “them,” when he was…

“I love her,” he repeated again, because it was the only part that made sense. 

“She saved your life,” HG pointed out, not unkindly, but her point was clear. “You’ve been through a lot together. The Warehouse does that to people. It puts you in constant danger with a small group of people, and you can’t tell anyone else for their own safety. The strain of that is tremendous and sometimes the pressure can just be too much.”

Steve shook his head. He’d been through all of that a hundred times. He and Claudia had woken up in each other’s arms, and managed to stay surprisingly calm under the circumstances, or as calm as Claudia ever was. Together, they tried to think of all the reasons that what had just happened might _not_ mean anything, starting with artifacts and ending with the fact that they’d always loved each other, just not _that_ way. And Claudia, dear sweet, sassy Claudia had told him that if it never happened again, if he wanted to pretend it never happened at all, she’d understand. He knew she was lying of course, but he didn’t bother to say it, because the next thing that happened was that it happened again. Even better the second time. And the third. 

That’s when he’d gone looking for someone to talk to.

HG poured more water over the leaves. Pu-erh of that caliber wasn’t cheap, and the second and third pourings had a different taste and aroma. 

“Has this ever happened before, with a woman, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“No. Never,” he answered immediately and truthfully. He’d known so early, from his first crush on another boy on the soft-ball team. “Not playing doctor, not spin the bottle. Nothing. I like women as friends; I always have. My sister was my best friend until…” 

He took a deep breath. Even though he’d managed to achieve some closure by trying to forgive the killer as his mother had, he would never, ever think of Olivia without evoking the pain. He tried to sit with it for a few minutes as his teacher would suggest, but there really wasn’t time. 

“All right, if you don’t mind my getting a bit more personal, Steve, have you ever slept with someone you weren’t in love with?” 

His first impulse was to say, sarcastically, “Well, sure, isn’t that what all homos do?” before he remembered who he was talking to, and tried to seriously consider the situation. The fact was he hadn’t had many partners at all. He’d been shy in his adolescence and then mostly focused on work. His particular gift made it nearly impossible to play the kind of games that came with the bar scene, and besides, he’d just never been interested in that sort of thing. Steve needed to know someone first. He had to care deeply and be sure they felt the same; otherwise his libido remained steadfastly in park. 

“Not really. I’m just not that guy, you know? But I’m not a guy who sleeps with girls either.”

“Until now,” she replied.

“Until now,” he agreed. “I know what you’re saying, but I can’t see myself being….” Steve knew he was talking himself in a corner, so he chose to shut his mouth. 

“Like me,” she said, supplying the missing words. 

“Yeah. I’m still the same person I was and that person isn’t like you.”

“Very few people are like me,” she said, with a knowing smile. “Are you familiar with the term ‘demisexual’?”

“That means I only have sex half as much as other people.” 

That produced a full smile. 

“No. It’s a more recent coinage. It basically means a person who feels no sexual attraction unless there’s already a deep emotional connection. Like the one you have with Claudia. Presumably it can transcend gender.” 

“You’re not…that.”

This time the smile was a bit more sardonic. 

“No. I can love as deeply as passionately as anyone, I assure you, whether it’s requited or not.” At that he saw of hint of sadness cross her face. “But life is short, or at least most lives are, and sometimes lust exists independently of anything emotional or even particularly healthy. I had an associate once who fit the mold rather well. We didn’t have the actual word back then, but he simply couldn’t fathom my being with someone I wasn’t also in love with. We had a bit of a falling out over it, I’m afraid.”

Steve sensed that HG was getting lost in the past or possibly her current tangled emotions. He didn’t want to ask if she was OK and put in her the position of lying, as she most likely would.

“So what do I do, now?”

The tea was finished, the Warehouse was less than a three-mile drive back the way he’d come and Claudia was still waiting for him to figure out….something. 

She shrugged and shook her head. 

“You live your life and you take whatever chance at happiness it offers you.” 

“You make it sound easy.”

“I assure you, it’s not.”

They both stood up, and Helena enfolded him in a hug, one that he thought was lasting a little too long and holding a little too tightly for friendly colleagues. Then he realized what she was doing, and he decided to go with it. He opened himself up to the possibility of being in any way turned on or aroused by her proximity, her scent, her everything.  


Objectively he knew that HG was a beautiful, stunning sensual woman. If he was going to be attracted to a woman he wasn’t in love with, it could just as easily be her. As far as experiments went, he’d have to class it a colossal failure. Although from his perspective, that actually made it a success. If a demisexual was what he was, well, it might take some time to get his head around the idea, but in the meantime he’d take his heart home to Claudia, where it belonged. 

“Nada,” he said, when they’d both had enough. 

“Well, that’s one less thing for Claudia to worry about then.” 

True. At least that was something he could promise Artie when they….

“Artie!” he winced.

HG grimaced in sympathy. She knew what it was like to face of the Wrath of Artie and soon it was going to be his turn. Well, tough. He loved Claudia and there was nothing Artie or anyone else could do about. 

Now Steve just needed to drive back to the Warehouse and tell him.

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, thanks to [evila_elf](http://archiveofourown.org/users/evila_elf/pseuds/evila_elf), for a rigorous, last-minute beta job. 
> 
>  
> 
> For those reading post-reveal: Yes, it's me! I considered orphaning this fic so that it could be read without whatever fandom baggage may be attached to my user-name, but I felt that wouldn't be fair to [boosette](http://archiveofourown.org/users/boosette/pseuds/boosette), who has already taken abuse for making the initial request. I chose to write to the request because I found it interesting and plausible for the characters in question. 
> 
> I'm proud of the result and thrilled that the recipient felt it fulfilled their Yuletide wishes for the pairing. 
> 
> My personal view is that as long as slashing of canon-straight characters is embraced, then it's hypocritical to say that gay characters cannot be shipped in a heterosexual pairing. However, I'm fully aware that for some people ANY fic or shipping that puts a canon-gay character into a relationship with a character of the opposite sex is offensive, possibly triggering, or just plain wrong, given the current societal inequities. 
> 
> So far, the comments and kudos have been gratifying and polite. I know that with more exposure that can change, but I'm only asking that whatever objections are raised, at least here, that they be about the issues raised in the story itself and this particular fandom, NOT whatever you think of me based on other fandom interactions.


End file.
